These days a majority of Americans believe that America is on the wrong track. While we're certainly not in the best of straights I do believe that America is doing okay and can continue to do so. Despite that, if I could pause America, change a few things, and then let it continue, these are the things I would do.
If you find anything you disagree with or would like proof of please ask. Comments are easy at the bottom. I did not cite this article due to its length but all of my views can be backed up by reliable sources. And its entirely possible I was wrong a couple times in here. Point out evidence to the contrary of what I say if you can! I'd appreciate it.
Health
I would set up universal health care coverage for all Americans like most 1st world countries have. Reduce health care costs to levels found in Europe and other 1st world countries. Set up an effective system which reduces the likelihood of insurance fraud. America's health care system is currently rated 37th in the world despite an average cost that is higher per person per year. Not only that but mortality rates are higher in America for many age segments of the population than in many other countries and we're ranked 36th for life expectancy. How does that work out that we spend more but receive less? A difficult problem to tackle but it has been tackled in Massachusetts where over 99% of the citizens have coverage and in Vermont where they recently enacted a Universal Health Care law.
I would make sure that there was education on high fructose corn syrup and why it is a major cause in obesity amongst Americans. I would encourage Americans to eat healthier and reduce subsidies for corn and work on other ways to make healthier foods more accessible and less expensive.
I would try to reduce America's dependence upon prescription pills for mental problems such as depression and ADHD. It is my belief that these are not suitable long term solutions and that encouraging people to use introspection for self healing would be a better solution. That sounds like some quack bullshit to a lot of people but then they're dissing something they've never tried, which is completely free, requires no special equipment or doctors (although a psychiatrist might help some, or a helpful guide), calms the mind, and reduces stress at the least. (I believe one of the main reasons the Japanese have one of the longest life expectancies is probably the zen philosophy that permeates many aspects of their society). Stress is shown to cause many diseases including heart disease and reducing stress would be a very cost effective way to reduce health care costs throughout the nation.
The Middle East
I would attempt to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan with United States pride and status maintained. It is hard to pull out of a war if the country will collapse right after so I would ensure that systems which were strong enough and fair enough to survive world scrutiny were in place. The women from Afghanistan who I heard speak were grateful for United States intervention in their country. They're now risking their lives to take part in a new rising government which is to shape Afghanistan's future. We cannot let these victories go to waste and we are actually creating a better world in some ways with these wars. I would try to speed up the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure and reduce the dropping of bombs to as little as possible. I would attempt to stop using predator drone strikes in neighboring Pakistan and elsewhere. I would support other revolutions and stop supporting Saudi Arabia until it got its human rights policies on track. I would apologize for the CIA assassination of the democratically elected leader of Iran in the 1950s that resulted in the current state of Iran, which is to say, not very good.
I would stop giving aid to Israel for arms. In general I would not give any aid to any foreign countries that consisted of arms. All foreign aid would have a big "not allowed to be used for guns or armaments" tag attached to it. Aid for food, refugees, water, health care, education, other necessities for life would be acceptable. Of course this raises the question of what to do for countries who might be crushed without arms and that is a prickly issue.
I would also encourage Israel to look for ways to successfully implement a one or two state system in the region reducing bloodshed in the region.
With respect to policies regarding terrorism I would, again, reduce the use of bombs. In Saudi Arabia terrorists are monitored and infiltrated. Cells are kept under watch and followed. This system is far better then the bomb dropping method America has implemented in many places. After you blow up a terrorist cell the survivors move and then America must start its search all over again. More people are encouraged to join terrorist cells and have anti-American sentiments after relatives, friends, and innocent civilians die in bombing raids. If you keep track of a terrorist cell you can see when they interact with other cells and learn more information about the network as a whole. The Saudi Arabians also infiltrate the cells but are far more successful than America because America generally doesn't trust native tongue speakers with sensitive information and white guys who speak traditional arabic instead of local dialects tend not to infiltrate much at all. Because of this I would encourage working with local governments so that those who infiltrate the cells spoke local tongues and America wouldn't have to worry about sensitive information getting into the wrong hands.
Education
Another area ranks rather poorly when compared to other countries is education. I would work to reform the education system. I would encourage the use of memory tricks to ensure children learned faster and more efficiently such as those taught by Dominic O'Brien (which I have used myself to memorize a wide variety of things with great efficiency, speed, and retention rates). These memory tricks also result in increased confidence, increased focus, and calmer minds all of which are rather beneficial traits.
I would look to increase the number of open ended assignments and hands on material available to children. I hope that this would increase interest for children because they would be able to learn things they're more likely to enjoy.
I would ensure all children were well fed because no one can focus when hungry and work on increasing the services to children so that the large majority are relatively happy, healthy, and more in shape to learn than so many in ghettos and poorer communities across America. (Interesting fact in suburban and higher income areas our schools actually are the best in the world, its only in ghettos and poor communities that we lose face and it drops our rankings considerably.)
I would make it easier to fire terrible teachers and encourage workshops for teachers to increase widespread use of the best known teaching practices. If someone has a class where everyone is engaged and learning consistently I would have them try to teach those techniques to the rest of the nation for further use elsewhere. I would keep art, music, and physical education to encourage children to use the right and left side of their brains as well as reflexes and bodies.
Finally I would reduce college costs in America. They've gone out of control. Graduates should not be saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of debt upon graduation. College costs in America are far higher than in most other countries and it is my belief that since college tuition costs go up as banks allow students to take out more money every year for college loans, if we reduced the amount that banks allowed students to take out, college costs would in hand, go down. Its a case where the free market needs a slight guiding hand to ensure the best outcome for the majority of Americans.
Drugs
I would legalize and regulate most drugs and decriminalize the rest. It is time to face the facts whether you agree with drug use or not. Americans, and humans in general, have always been using drugs and criminalization does not decrease use or make Americans safer. Drug use generally only negatively affects the person who is doing the drug and no one else. If this is the case then instead of locking people up who are seeking happiness and putting them through the terrible time that is holding cells and court I would allow drug users to find help at clinics. The money saved from ending the drug war would easily fund these clinics that could provide methadone for heroin users and addicts of other prescription pain killers. These clinics as well as schools could educate the public on the straight and unbiased facts of drug use. Generally they would discourage the use of highly addictive drugs such as heroin, meth, cocaine, and tobacco and point out that when used correctly 'tripping' on magic mushrooms and lsd has had positive effects for many people including the likes of Steve Jobs.
Ending the drug war also reduces the amount of money which goes into drug dealers and criminal hands, reduces the prison population, and increases government tax revenue by creating taxes for the new drugs which are sold. It reduces police expenditures and creates a freer society. The amount of money saved would be great and some of that could go towards the proper education of the public about drugs both prescription and non. Prison is the number one cause for relapse, the war on drugs has failed, cartels get richer every day, deaths and beheadings in Mexico occur at alarming rates, its time to change our stance.
Guns
I would uphold the 2nd amendment rights of all Americans. Despite that I don't think anyone really needs any machine guns. I would step up background checks and waits for gun purchases and encourage the proper training required to handle, maintain, and use a gun effectively and safely. I'm not sure how I feel about conceal carry laws.
Prostitution
Many prostitutes start very young and it is not uncommon for girls who are not even teenagers to be prostitutes. Its the worlds oldest professions and sex is one of the most pervasive elements of our society. How many prostitutes have STDs or get killed every year? This is another instance where criminalization does no good and does not prevent people from obtaining prostitutes. There will always be prostitutes. Lets make it legal, tax it, and regulate it. There will be monthly STD tests for those working and it will make it safer for all people who are involved. If someone goes and gets a prostitute they might end up with a 13 year old girl even if they do not want a 13 year old girl, how often would that happen if they could go to a brothel at the edge of town? Never unless they were specifically seeking underground 13 year old prostitutes who would probably be a lot harder to find due to the reduced profits for Pimps.
Wall Street
I would reregulate Wall Street. I would reduce speculation on commodities and make it harder for individuals to obtain mortgages and loans. Many of the regulations that came to be after the great depression have been stripped away and I would re-implement many of these to ensure that banks weren't betting against their own clients and were building profitable portfolios based on safer more long term bets. I would make it impossible for banks to bet money they didn't have such as before the 2008 crash when some banks were lending almost 30 dollars for every dollar they actually had. The reduction of speculation would reduce prices for oil and many other commodities helping middle and lower class Americans out.
Energy
I would promote Nuclear power and less dependence upon foreign energy sources. Despite this I'm not sure how much uranium is left in the world so I would do some research on that before diving headlong into a nuclear power program. The reactor that failed in Japan was some 30 or 40 years old and did not have many of the safety implements that are now required and would have prevented the crisis that has since occurred. If encouraging nuclear power I would make sure plants were regularly inspected and updated their safety features as much as possible. Obviously cost analysis for power plant safety upgrades would have to be considered.
I would reduce the oil subsidies and increase subsidies for greener energy initiatives. This would ensure that America continued to reduce its use of foreign oil as well as developed products to sell to other countries in the future. Other countries are currently investing heavily into renewable energy sources and if we don't give our own programs a kick start we may fall very far behind and end up being dependent upon other countries for our energy and energy products anyways.
Gays
I would let gay people marry. Gay marriages break apart far less often than traditional marriages. Seriously, its such a nonissue I cannot believe that people still debate it. It is "Land of the free" isn't it?
Immigration
I would reduce the strict immigration policies and promote work programs that would allow foreign laborers to come in and work within the United States with relative ease. Many illegal immigrants actually contribute far more to society than they take out of it because it can be rather hard for them to obtain services Americans have access to. A lot of them also pay payroll taxes they can never retrieve benefits for and immigrants as a whole payed 11 billion dollars in taxes last year, that's 11 billion more than GE who received billions of dollars in government aid.
Job Creation
America's infrastructure is not in good shape. I would hire people to rebuild our roads, bridges, dams, sewage systems, trains, and power lines. This would be similar to the work program initiated after the Great Depression. This would cost money but it has been shown that reducing spending during a depression worsens the depressions, and reduces confidence by other countries in the country (meaning our loan rates would go up). Money that will improve the economy by creating jobs that is effectively spent is not a bad thing to do even with a 14 trillion dollar (and counting deficit).
The Deficit
I would reduce the deficit through reduction of laws (drugs, prostitution) which not only reduces budgets but also increases tax revenues. I would reduce defense spending. I would cut oil subsidies although I would put much of that towards renewable energy investment. I would attempt to cut a lot of the pork from government spending and instead of handing out money to do something with blindly as seems to be the current system, I would require people who have an idea to submit a proposal that would receive money accordingly resulting in less waste. I would create a committee specifically to find out where waste is occurring and reduce it as well as to streamline the government process. Health care and defense costs are currently the largest portions of our budget and if we can reduce the money spent on these then we can cut large amounts of money out of our budgets. As stated before I would work on leaving Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan as soon as possible and not having operational forces in these countries would also reduce expenditures.
Taxes
I believe in equality so I would work on creating some sort of flat line tax. This would mean that rich people would be taxed the exact same amount as less wealthy people. This would be difficult to do because as a necessity lower class persons spend more money on food and entertainment therefore paying more of their salaries into taxes. I would work on coming up with some sort of solution that would account for that. Taxes might have to raise a little bit but people and businesses wouldn't have to pay for health care so the trade off would be beneficial for all. I would also go through and fix the corporate tax code to ensure that multinational corporations couldn't dodge taxes quite as effectively as they do now but also make it fair so that corporations continued to be created and work within the United States. This would be difficult, and I'm not sure exactly what would have to be done for this to occur, but this is what I would work towards.
The Government
I would work for a more transparent government, less intrusive government. You might ask how I can say that after proposing universal health care, clean energy subsidies, and more and to that I reply that I would allow gays to marry, reduce laws, and work towards getting rid of things like the Patriot act that clearly inflict upon our rights. I would work towards a government where people know where there money is going. I would try to reduce the number of bases worldwide for our soldiers reducing expenditures and foreign involvement. Streamlining the government would make this far easier to accomplish. Imagine if the government was as streamlined as Wal-Mart. We'd save billions every year.
The Two Party System
I would get rid of the current political system. If you would like to run for office you would sign up granted you received enough signatures. Clearly not every single person could run and this would require some sort of budget to get a following. Maybe if you were interested in running you could apply for money provided you provided a valid campaign on which you planned to run upon. This would allow even small guys like me to have a small sum of money with which to create websites, run a few ads, and hire a few kids to go around the neighborhoods in order to get signatures for support. After that, those who were accepted would be featured in debates. Every candidate would have the same amount of money and every candidate would be in the same debates. There might have to be primaries before the big debates due to the time consuming nature of large debates for both the public and the candidates. All candidates would have an essentially equal say in the race and would receive the same amount of air time. This would also encourage voters to be educated upon who they were voting for as opposed to voting along party lines. And instead of someone proposing legislation and having everyone vote I propose people propose ideas and everyone works together to create the legislation. Finally this system does not allow for as much corporate influence. I would keep most of the current political structure in place because it does not allow any individuals to gain too much power.
Prisons
I would completely abolish for profit prison systems. These are terrible and result in influence upon judges and communities to imprison more people. Profit should not be a though in anyone's mind when debating the future of human lives (despite how many times it is unfortunately). I would get rid of the death penalty and send convicted rapists and murders to work in Alaska (depending on the severity of the situation. Serial killers and rapers would be good candidates. Rage induced cases are different and depend on the reason the rage was induced. Someone who murders a home intruder I don't believe in sending to an Alaskan work farm for instance.) I would work on closing Guantanamo bay and releasing the prisoners for whom no charges have been filed. I would encourage judges to think and side more with the individual than the corporation and hopefully protect every individuals and corporations rights in the process.
Environment
I believe in protecting the environment. If you don’t, take a trip to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Sequoia, the Rockies, the Adirondacks, Assateague, the Everglades, Glacier, and all of the other beautiful scenic places in America and change your mind. We need to learn to live more in harmony with the environment.
Net Neutrality
I support net neutrality. I also support bringing America’s broadband speeds up to par with the rest of the world. Although many of the countries that have much faster broadband speeds have far less area to upgrade when they go about it admittedly.
Copywrite Laws
As the internet grows vaster there have been many issues raised about copywrite laws and prosecuting those who watch movies online. I do not believe this is the answer. How about if your movie or game is still being produced then it should be illegal to host it without the legitimate consent of the producer. However, if you’re movie is from the early 90s and isn’t in production then who cares if people watch it for free online. They’ve waited long enough that’s for sure and the only people who stand to make money off the movie anymore are people who are selling used copies and when ever it is played on tv stations. There have been many artists who have adapted to the internet and I think that the entertainment industry is going to have to follow suit. This is a time for creativity, not ridiculous law suits against random people who are doing the same thing everyone else is.
Conclusion
Well there you have it. Over 3000 words of what I would do to keep America on the right track. Now please remember that I'm a 21 year old computer engineering student. There may be a mistake here or there although I do believe that almost everything i have stated can be backed up with good data. Please comment. Tell me what you would do with America if you had the chance.
-Generic picture of mountains in Afghanistan
Now that Osama Bin Laden is confirmed dead what does the rest of Al Qaeda look like?
Ayman al-Zawahri - Number 2
A surgeon from Egypt now known to be Al Qaeda's number two man. He frequently praises the September 11th hijackers and has called President Obama a "house negro". A member of the Muslim Brotherhood he believes in a single unified Muslim state and encourages Al Qaeda and his followers to fight against the entirety of NATO as well as fight the rebels in Libya who were fighting against Colonel Gaddhafi. He's been involved in multiple assassination attempts on foreign leaders as well as successful plans to blow up United States embassies abroad and has traveled the world raising money and support for his cause. Likely has thousands of followers but at almost 60 years of age how long he will be able to keep up being number 2 for Al Qaeda might be of question. He was also number two on the FBIs most wanted with a $25 million dollar reward on his head. Consider him dangerous.
Adam Yahiye Gadahn or
Azzam The American
The terrorist born and raised right here in the United States. Only 31 years old and believed to be in Yemen where the United States recently launched a drone operation to kill him although it proved unsuccessful. Believed to be the main translator he has appeared on several movies that address the West and Americans. Well endorsed by Al Qaeda but arrested by officials in Yemen 2007 and then consequently released due to lack of evidence, he may be too young and foolhardy to last. He is one to watch out for though because of his ability to utilize English to create effective rhetoric for the cause.
Islam
The second largest religion in the world with over 1 billion followers. (Christianity is the largest). Followers of Islam are Muslims. Respects Jesus, Moses, and Abraham as tellers of the word of God. The final prophet is Muhammad in Islam.The Quran is the holy book of Islam. Those who follow the religion of Islam believe in one God and five pillars which include a pilgrimage to Mecca, giving to charity, praying 5 times a day, and fasting.
Sharia Law
Sharia means path in Arabic and was developed some three hundred years after the death of the prophet Muhammad. It varies from country to country and is generally based upon the sayings of the Quran and the Muhammad. As new issues arise clerics generally address these on a case by case basis and the Muslim community may influence how opinions are formed. Sharia law is not all bad and many people under corrupt governments would like to institute a Sharia law which would be a fair government. Generally punishments from the Quran are not given out even though they remain on the law books in some countries. There is a debate as to whether Islam and democracy can coexist but with many dual government systems where the government is nonreligious but persons may bring familial issues to a Sharia court there appears to be a compromise. As many as 60% of people in Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, and Indonesia appear to think that Democracy is a good way to govern even with 71% thinking that Sharia law should be kept in Islamic countries. In Britain it has been ruled that, should both parties agree, certain matters may be brought to Sharia tribunals. Criminal law is of course still enforced at the government level but it may not be that those who would prefer Sharia law want to take over the entire law, but more that they would prefer to be able to deal with certain matters in a way seemingly suggested by their religion. The United States is currently dealing with a variety of anti-Muslim protests in areas where Mosques were to be built because people believe that President Obama is trying to spread Sharia law or that Sharia law's influence is going to spread and take over America. That does not appear to be happening. In most places Sharia law is not quite as strict as many imagine. Saudi Arabia, for instance, is a place where the strictest Sharia laws are held up. Women may not drive and must be completely covered in public places. In most places though women can drive and even alcohol is tolerated. Westerners and nonMuslims generally do not have to obey Sharia law and should they encounter or be a problem will deal with a secular government controlled court. In many countries where the government is defined as secular, groups that would instate total Sharia law are even seen as a threat such as in Azerbaijan, and other countries in Asia and Africa. In Turkey the Islamist party has been banned from participating in politics all together.
Fatwa
A fatwa is supposed to originate from a high knowing cleric or priest of Islam. Some Fatwas are issued where other clerics disagree because there is no central hierarchy in Islam such as in Christianity. Generally if someone would present a fatwa they must present information from the Quran and other sources explaining how they came to their conclusion. Due to the fact many disagree Fatwas may or may not be followed by the majority of Muslims who may choose on their own whether or not to obey the Fatwa. Fatwas are not all violent and some include not smoking or drinking. There have even been Fatwas denouncing Osama Bin Laden.
Where is Al Qaeda now?
Al Qaeda is apparently operating in over 100 different countries (including the United States and other Western countries in Europe) with various underground terror cells all over the world. Al Qaeda does not feature a strong command and terrorists cells may not even know of eachother. Al Qaeda maintains ties to other terrorist organizations including Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Islamic Army of Yemen, and others. Al Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI, is considered one of the groups most effective fronts with support for Al Qaeda dropping in countries such as Pakistan.
Uprisings in Middle East discredit Al Qaeda's methodology
In the past year there have been uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and others. These uprisings are being called the Arab Spring and because most are generally nonviolent, at least initially on the protesters side, they discredit an organization who acts with violence to change things. These protests are by people who wish for more open governments and less tyrannical rule in their countries.
So in the end theres a lot to learn about the situation in the Middle East. The United States and Europe have been intervening in the Middle East for a long time, it is not a surprise that there are people over there who hate us but I think that in general most of the people are probably just people like you or I. I don't think they want to take over the world, they probably want to ensure their children will be safe and will be able to flourish in the world. They might want to go about a different way then you or I, but they does not mean that the majority of the 1 billion plus people practicing Islam are bad people. Stop Anti-Muslim hate today and it'll be a better world for everyone in the future. Maybe my next post will be United States intervention in the Middle East because I think it goes farther back than most imagine.
May 1st, 2011 marks the day the world learned that Osama Bin Laden had been shot and killed in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan by United States special forces. While most are, and rightly so, happy about this development in the so called 'war on terror' is it really as much of a victory as we believe?
Osama Bin Laden is best known amongst Americans for the infamous attacks on 9/11 of 2001. The attacks were carried out by the terrorist group Al Qaeda, headed and founded by Osama Bin Laden. They had previously organized attacks on American Citizens in Saudi Arabia where Bin Laden believed that false Muslims" were in control.
A Friendly History
Relations between Bin Laden and the United States weren't always so sour. The son of a billionaire Bin Laden became involved in the fight against the Soviet Union when they went to take over Afghanistan. In 1987 the Soviet Union wished to leave Afghanistan. Thousands of their troops had died due to the intense opposition funded primarily by the United States. This article details some of the disturbing views and events of the time. It appears that the United States also ignored an offer from Gorbachev to stop the war. Gorbachev had stated that he would withdraw his Soviet troops from Afghanistan if the United States would stop sending arms to the militants but the United States said no. This left Gorbachev with no option but to continue fighting or lose their main ally in the region India. This also resulted in the battle which made Osama Bin Laden famous. Had this battle not happened it is possible that the now infamous leader of Al Qaeda may have never become as powerful as he became.
The United States Backs the Taliban?
In an interesting side note I'm learning as I research there appears to be quite a bit of evidence for a Taliban backed by the United States originally. Some even claim that to this day the Taliban is backed. I first read about it here in an article by a professor of Notre Dame which was not cited. I did a quick google search for a quote I found rather appalling,
"The good part of what has happened is that one of the factions at last seems capable of developing a new government in Afghanistan." "The Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis. There will be Aramco [the consortium of oil companies that controlled Saudi oil], pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that,"
attributed to a United States Diplomat. A search for the beginning shows the quote shows up in a variety of other sources including books and other sources. Take it as you will, it is not the point of my article. Supposing the Professors entire article is true paints a rather ugly picture of the United States involvement in the Middle East though.
The Waning of Bin Laden's Muslim Support
We make Bin Laden out to be rather influential and clearly the man is. Despite this it appears that support for Bin Laden has waned even amongst his primary supporters. This well sourced article describes how Muslim support for Bin Laden which use to be strong has been waning after a series of attacks within the Middle East that killed innocent Muslims. A commenter makes the appropriate point that "So he was celebrated when he killed infidels but not supported when he killed Muslims? Why am I not comforted by this?" to which another commenter makes the equally appropriate point "We supported him when he was killing Soviets, but not when he was killing Americans". If Bin Laden's support has truly waned it might be an important victory for the United States in the Middle East. It also might indicate that the killing of Osama might not be as grand a victory as we hope in the 'War On Terror'.
A Younger Generation Seems not to Know who Osama Bin Laden is
This I found rather interesting. Apparently the search "who is osama bin laden?" was searched by many teenagers after the news broke. Many of our younger computer using generation had no idea who the man was. This I find rather saddening with the constant news on the 9/11 Mosque opposition, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the news of suicide bombings by Al Qaeda frequenting the air often. It seems that as the information age becomes more apparent less people are taking the small steps to actually utilize the resources we have and access information.
Evidence for Osama's involvement in 9/11 is Rather Scant
Another interesting note is that the actual evidence for Osama's involvement in 9/11 probably wouldn't even hold up in court. On the FBI's 10 most wanted list Osama Bin Laden's information did not feature 9/11 as a reason. Not only that but the FBI's chief of investigative publicity came out and stated that there was no hard evidence connecting Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks that occurred.
No. 2 Appears to Call the Shots
The State Department has claimed that Ayman al-Zawahiri calls the shots for Al Qaeda these days. He has a 25 million dollar bounty on his head just as Osama did and has apparently been much more active in recent years than Osama. This would indicate that the victory in killing Osama is probably not a victory in actually reducing the scope of Al Qaeda and rather a victory ideologically and morally.
With a Goal of Bankrupting the United States, did Osama Win?
Osama Bin Laden has stated that his goal is to bankrupt the United States. The cost of the two wars currently waged in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq, has currently cost the United States more than one trillion dollars. If you add in the increased spending on defense, the NSA, the post 9/11 stock market crash, and the costs of the rest of the wars you've got one hell of a bill the United States has spent since the attacks on 9/11. With a mounting deficit that is currently more that 14 trillion dollars it is entirely possible that Osama completed his goals far more than the United States has. The other costs include United States soldiers of which more than 6,000 have died since the start of the two wars, deteriorating Pakistani US relations, over 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, over 8,000 Afghani civilian deaths in the last four years, and terrible flak from United States practices at the controversial Guantanamo Bay Prison. Was the cost of capturing Osama worth it? Since 9/11 we've seen full body TSA scanners for airports, the Patriot Act, increased protests against Muslims within the US, and people like Pastor Terry Jones who only serve to incense the issue. All for a guy who's support amongst Muslims was waning and who probably doesn't even call the shots for Al Qaeda anymore. Although, admittedly, it wasn't all for him, we're still going to be in Iraq and Afghanistan and the new government in Afghanistan is a legitimate Democracy with women involved and everything, which I am in complete support of.
Bin Laden's Harddrive
A cool thing is that during the raid we found Bin Laden's hard drive. I hope one day it becomes public because I am curious as to what Bin Laden may have had on there.
Respecting Muslim Tradition
Another cool and respectful thing I noticed was that the United States respected Muslim tradition by burying the leader of Al Qaeda at sea complete with Muslim religious rights. Despite him being as atrocious as he was I do believe this was a proper way to go about the death of Osama and will likely be seen as respectful by many of Muslim faith. We must remember that America Vs the World is bound to fail but America with the world is not.
In the end...
In the end I feel as though Osama may have achieved his goals better than we have despite his death. I believe that there are some good things that have come out of the two wars we've waged since 9/11 such as the women in the Afghani government I mentioned earlier and I do believe the death of Osama is another good thing to come out of everything. Despite this, looking at the costs in terms of lives and dollars I am not sure if perhaps, Osama may have won. If the United States continues to incur debt as it does currently the dollar may lose the status of global reserve currency causing rapid inflation and increases in the prices of nearly everything. There are countries already agreeing not to trade with US dollars and many currencies are currently much stronger than ours. This continued spending on these wars, amongst other things, certainly contributes to that. If America does go bankrupt, loses its AAA rating with Moody's and Poor, well, then Osama will have achieved everything he set out to do. Be happy in the death of a terrible man, but think also of the other costs.
Osama Bin Laden has been confirmed dead. President Obama about to speak.
The annual White House Correspondents Dinner is generally a good time. Over the years it's featured many comedians and generally makes fun of the issues of the time. This year one of the biggest issues seemed to be Donald Trump's possible campaign run. Donald Trump has been in the press recently for questioning President Obama's legitimacy as President of The United States. After President Obama released his long form birth certificate 'The Donald' spoke publicly and announced he was very proud of himself because he had done something no one else could get done and that he was ready to move on to discussing the bigger issues. Unfortunately, he then went on to say that he wondered why the President wasn't releasing his school and education records. That does not, to me, seem to be a real issue right now.
Some of the issues Donald Trump does seem passionate about are China, which is apparently ripping us off, and OPEC which is setting the gasoline prices. He claims that the current politicians do not understand it. Funnily enough, Trump's own clothing brand is manufactured in China. Maybe Trump should also read my article on gasoline prices (or perhaps the sources since they might be slightly more professional) which found out that OPEC uses the Wall Street oil index to set its oil prices. Would Trump crack down on speculation? I'm not sure. He's not mentioned it as far as I know though.
Donald Trump has announced that he will be announcing whether or not he shall actually run for President on the finale of his reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice". Donald Trump seems to often mention his television show during his speeches and many are wondering whether this whole 'campaign' is not just a plug for his show. This is not the first time Donald Trump has announced he was considering running for President. Donald Trump has done this same sort of thing in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
One thing Donald Trump likes to mention is his poll numbers. They're rather high in respect to other Republican nominee possibilities but as Jon Stewart so kindly points out, this means nothing. Hilary Clinton was beating Barack Obama in 2007 and Joe Lieberman was the front runner of early polls in 2003. In this sense, high poll numbers guarantee you won't be president it seems.
At the Correspondents Dinner the President poked fun at Trump. He starts off his bit after making fun of the rest of the Republican presidential possibilities. He says he hears that Michelle Bachmann was born in Canada and that there's an odd rumor that Mitt Romney passed universal health care in Massachusets. He says "Someone should get to the bottom of that. And I know just the man to do it, Donald Trump! He's here tonight." He goes on to say that no one is prouder to put the birth certificate issue to rest so that he can finally focus on the real issues such as "Did America fake the moonlanding? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac!". The President chuckles as he starts to deliver but delivers well and even gets a smile out of the generally not smiling Trump himself. A rather funny, and telling moment, comes after. The President says "And we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience" and you hear laughter, but that wasn't the joke! Obama goes on to state the decisions on the Celebrity Apprentice keep him up at night. Watch the Donald Trump portion of the night by Obama here or, and I think it is worth it, watch the entire speech here. Whatever you may think about the President, his stand up skills are to be admired and the entire speech is rather funny (sans the end of course when he does add a few serious notes).
After the President Seth Meyers came up to deliver his routine. He rips on practically everyone and everything present but Donald Trump certainly received the brunt of it. The remarks on Trump start right about minute 12 if you do not have the time to watch the entire speech although, again, it is rather funny. Seth Meyers is a popular comedian and the best part of his routine on Trump is when he says "Donald Trump said recently he has a great relationship with the blacks, though unless the blacks are a family of white people, I bet he's mistaken." The best part of this is when they show Obama cracking up right after.Check out the whole routine on Trump, it runs a few minutes and it's funny seeing Trump not twitch a muscle the entire time. He certainly doesn't seem to amused although after dishing out as much as he has on the whole birther issue it doesn't seem like he should complain.
Interestingly enough, I think the best stuff I've heard from Trump so far comes in response to the White House Correspondents Dinner. In an interview with, of course, Fox News, he expresses how he felt about the dinner. He does not seem to be too concerned with the jokes and discusses his concerns. He claims that he feels bad that everyone is having a good time but Americans are paying for five dollar gasoline. He says Seth Meyers has a bad delivery but Obama's delivery was good. He discusses how he is leading the polls many times and how he will get China to change their ways. He claims our politicians do not understand it but he does and that he will get OPEC to lower prices as well. Again, it is interesting since his clothing line is made in China and since Wall Street is driving up oil prices, not OPEC.
So Donald, I guess you better get your act together, because whether or not you take yourself seriously it doesn't seem like too many other people do. And whether or not you run, at this point, I don't think I'll be voting for you.
Oil prices have been steadily rising recently and in a less than solid economy this can squeeze the wallets of those who don't have money to spare. The truth is that oil has been rising steadily since the beginning of the year 2000 until the crash in oil prices at the end of 2008. With commodities this generally means that supply is going down or staying the same and demand is going up. In the United States though the opposite has happened, oil demand has gone down but prices have gone up. The root cause of this price increase? Speculators. Some analysts believe up to 60% of the current gasoline price is due to speculation.
In order to understand how the price of oil rises and falls we should first attempt to understand the process by which oil arrives at our local gas stations day in and day out. Gasoline does not come out of the ground as gasoline, what comes out of the ground is crude oil. Crude oil does not even come out of the ground the same everywhere. The best crude oil is known as light crude oil and is rather viscous which means it is more like a liquid. As crude oil becomes denser, or less viscous, it becomes known as heavy crude oil. This oil must first be heated in order for it to flow like a liquid. After finding the crude oil the oil must be refined. According to Chevron, oil goes through distillation, cracking, treating, and reforming before it is refined into a product which may be used. After the crude oil is processed into products it must finally be shipped to distributors around the world and United States. This generally happens via ships and trucks.
The people who make money off of oil are the following.
- The drillers and refiners, generally the oil companies.
- The government through taxes.
- The gas station owners
- Big banks and investors
So two of the money makers involved in gasoline are directly involved with the oil and two are not. Lets examine these for the increase in price. ExxonMobile reports that it only makes 7 cents per gallon of oil. Has supply gone down? Actually the countries that make up OPEC are producing more than they have in 2 years. Almost 30 million barrels a day. Not only that but the top two exporters of oil to the United States are actually Canada and Mexico which cannot be classified as volatile markets. Has demand gone up? No, consumption was most in 2007 and by 2010 had fallen by 2 million barrels a day. Have taxes on oil increased? The United States did recently increase taxes on each barrel of oil produced in the United States or imported. In fact, they quadrupled the tax. Fortunately the tax was a mere 8 cents and is now 34 cents. Clearly not the cause of the high oil prices. State taxes do bring the cost of gasoline up considerably though and they average 48 cents per gallon across all 50 states. These taxes increase occasionally but do not account for the rapid rise in prices. Gas station owners don't even make very much money on gasoline. Sometimes their profits are as little as one or two cents a gallon.
This leaves the big banks and investors. In the year 2000 when oil prices started climbing the United States Congress deregulated the futures market. This allowed investors and banks to trade oil futures much more extensively than previously. At this point OPEC does not set the price of oil despite being the worlds largest source of the commodity. Instead the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London set the prices of oil. This means Wall Street essentially sets the price of oil. United States investors who would like to trade in secret may do so through the ICE and in this way they bypass the United States regulations that are still in place. Since the deregulation of the futures market prices have steadily risen and it is no coincidence. Since the deregulation of the futures market price setting has switched from the producers to the investors and it is no coincidence. It is the big banks and investors trading in commodities futures that are causing the rapid increase in oil prices.
If you would like to see more regulation of the futures market than e-mail your representatives and our president. E-mails are easy to find with a google search. With oil being traded numerous times on paper before it reaches your gasoline station it only hurts middle and lower class Americans who do not have the money to spare. It is certainly a bubble and it will crash but when no one knows. Is it worth waiting?
For further reading check out my last source. It is an article which goes much further into the oil speculation market and how it works. It details key events, players, and more details than I could provide.
Sources
Image
